Baseball To Open Play In NCAA Tallahassee Regional Friday vs. Florida
May 30, 2008
Green Wave sets sights on Regional run beginning with a noon (CDT) showdown against the GatorsMay 29, 2008
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Tulane University baseball team opens play in the 2008 NCAA Tallahassee Regional on Friday, May 30, when the third-seeded Green Wave take on second-seeded Florida at noon (CDT) at Dick Howser Stadium on the campus of Florida State University.
For the Wave, it is a return trip to the NCAA postseason after seeing their string of nine straight Regional trips snapped after failing to earn a bid in 2007. Tulane is joined in the Tallahassee Regional by host and No. 4 national seed Florida State and fourth-seeded Bucknell.
“When you get left out one time, I don’t think there’s any question that it slaps you in the face,” Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. “There was a sense of urgency that we had when we got together back in August. We didn’t always play great every day, but we played well enough to get an at-large bid. You don’t get an at-large bid to the NCAA’s unless you had a good year.”
All of Tulane’s games in the NCAA postseason will be carried on the flagship station of Green Wave baseball, WRBH 88.3, and the game will be simulcast on the internet at www.TulaneGreenWave.com to paid members of the All-Access Pass. In addition, live stats are available on-line for free via GameTracker.
While Friday’s Tallahassee Regional opener will not be televised, any Tulane game against either Florida State or Florida from Saturday on will be televised live on Sun Sports (DirecTV Channel 632, Dish Network Channel 442).
Tulane enters the 2008 NCAA Tallahassee Regional 37-20-1 on the year, 13-9-1 in Conference USA play and holding the No. 3 seed in the Regional after earning an at-large bid.
As a team, the Green Wave are hitting .288 with a .448 slugging percentage on the strength of 106 doubles, 20 triples and 57 home runs. Freshman third baseman Rob Segedin leads the team with a .333 batting average while junior middle infielder Seth Henry and junior infielder/outfielder Anthony Scelfo follow with respective marks of .332 and .324. Scelfo paces the club with 12 home runs, Segedin has a club-best 56 RBI, and junior outfielder Aja Barto is 21-of-24 in the stolen base category.
From the mound, Tulane sports a 4.20 ERA and has held opponents to a .240 batting average. Green Wave hurlers have combined for 460 strikeouts and 224 walks in 519.0 innings. Junior right-hander Shooter Hunt leads the team with nine wins, 119 strikeouts, a 2.45 ERA, a .156 opponent batting average and 91.2 innings pitched. Junior right-hander Mason Griffin paces the staff with 25 appearances and has seven of the team’s 13 saves during the regular season.
Florida, meanwhile, enters the postseason as the Tallahassee Regional’s No. 2 seed after going 34-22 overall and finishing second in the SEC Eastern Division with a 17-13 league record. As a team, the Gators are hitting .305 with a .460 slugging percentage on the strength of 93 doubles, 16 triples and 58 home runs. Avery Barnes paces the club with a .372 batting average while Cole Figueroa and Brandon McArthur follow closely with marks of .350 and .343, respectively. Figueroa leads the team with nine home runs and 57 RBI, while Barnes has succeeded in 26-of-29 stolen base attempts.
From the mound, Florida sports a 4.11 ERA and has allowed opponents to connect at a .288 clip. Gator hurlers have combined for 305 strikeouts and 182 walks in 490.1 innings. Patrick Keating leads Florida with eight wins, Billy Bullock paces the club with 61 strikeouts and 80.2 innings pitched, Stephen Locke has a team-best 3.07 ERA, and Tommy Toledo sports a club-low .258 opponent batting average. Tony Davis paces the bullpen with 32 appearances and Kyle Mullaney has three of the team’s 10 saves in 2008.
“(Florida) had a good year, they’re going to be very aggressive and they’re playing hard under a first-year head coach,” Jones said. “They like to put pressure on you if they get on the bases. The key for us is to try and minimize the base runners for them and then have quality at-bats.”
Friday’s first-round meeting between Tulane and Florida will mark the seventh time the two teams have met on the diamond, and the Gators lead the all-time series, 5-1. Tulane’s lone win in the series came in the inaugural Busch Challenge in the Louisiana Superdome when the Green Wave defeated the Gators, 11-10, on March 1, 1991. Tulane has played Florida once in the NCAA postseason - May 27, 1988 - as the Gators ended Tulane’s season at the NCAA East Regional with a 9-5 victory at Dick Howser Stadium.
Tulane’s trip to Tallahassee, Fla., for the NCAA Regionals marks the Green Wave’s 19th venture into the NCAA postseason - all since 1979 - and 12th under Jones.
Tulane is 27-29 all-time in NCAA Regional play, including winning Regional titles in 2001, 2004 and 2005. Since 1999 - the year Tulane claimed its first-ever No. 1 Regional seed - the Wave are 19-11 in NCAA Regional action, including advancing to the championship game five times (1999 in Auburn, 2001 in New Orleans, 2004 in Oxford, 2005 in New Orleans and 2006 in Oxford).
Following Friday’s game against the Gators, Tulane returns to action on Saturday, May 31, for day two of Regional play. If the Green Wave win, Tulane will play the winner of the Florida State/Bucknell contest at 6 p.m. If the Wave fall to the Gators, they will play the loser of the Seminoles/Bison ballgame at noon.
The winner of the double-elimination NCAA Tallahassee Regional will advance to play the winner of the NCAA Stillwater (Okla.) Regional - which features host Oklahoma State, Wichita State, TCU and Western Kentucky - in the 2008 Super Regional. Sites for the Super Regionals have yet to be determined, but the winners will advance to the NCAA Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
2008 NCAA TALLAHASEE REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, May 30
Game 1: No. 2 Florida vs. No. 3 Tulane, 12 p.m.
Game 2: No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 4 Bucknell, 6 p.m.Saturday, May 31
Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 12 p.m.
Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 6 p.m.Sunday, June 1
Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser, 12 p.m.
Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 6 p.m.Monday, June 2
Game 7: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 6 p.m. (if necessary)
WAVE OF RETURNS
May 30, 2008
Back in an NCAA regional after a one-year hiatus, Tulane aims to seize the moment
Friday, May 30, 2008
By Nakia HoganTALLAHASSEE, FLA. — Three years ago Jared Dyer got to take in the ambiance of Tulane baseball — from the visiting dugout as a freshman at the University of Houston.
He soaked in the atmosphere of Turchin Stadium, secretly wishing he’d get to wear a Tulane uniform and help the Green Wave make another deep run into the postseason.
“I got to experience the atmosphere they had here, and I wanted to be a part of that winning environment,” said Dyer, Tulane’s junior catcher. “I wanted to play in the playoffs. I wanted to go to regionals, super regionals and Omaha. I felt like this was my best chance to do it.
After an injury-plagued freshman season at Houston and a junior college stint at San Jacinto North, Dyer got his chance at Tulane.
But it was nothing like he envisioned. For the first time in 10 years, the Green Wave missed out on an NCAA regional berth last year.
“Last year was disappointing. We struggled a lot. But I only thought we could get better from that season.”
The Green Wave is in a better place now, having returned to the NCAA regionals. Third-seeded Tulane ends its one-year hiatus from the postseason at noon today against second-seeded Florida in the Tallahassee Regional. Top seed and regional host Florida State plays fourth seed Bucknell in the other game at 6 p.m.
“It’s really exciting, especially after not being in it last year,” Tulane second baseman Seth Henry said. “You don’t realize how exciting of a time it is when you get into that regional, just the atmosphere and all the fans out there. I’m sure there’ll be a lot of fans rooting against us. But it’s still an exciting time having all the people out there.”
The mood surrounding the Green Wave is quite different from a year ago, when it seemed the sky was falling.
The Green Wave has been rejuvenated. The fact that it lost five of its past six games is almost an afterthought.
“There is a sense of relief, but also accomplishment due to the fact that this is what they came here to do, to be a part of this and not just NCAA tournament, but move past that,” Tulane Coach Rick Jones said. “At the same time there was some more pressure on this club, because we weren’t there last year. And getting in was a relief for them. It certainly was for our coaching staff. We had never missed before two times in a row. We had a lot of spring in our steps this week. We’ll play with a lot of confidence.”
Tulane (37-20-1) will need it. Florida (34-22) finished second in the Southeastern Conference East Division. Similar to the way Marshall did in defeating Tulane twice during last week’s Conference USA Tournament, the Gators will put plenty of pressure on Dyer and the Green Wave with their ability to steal bases.
Led by Avery Barnes’s 26 steals, Florida has been successful in 106 of 126 of its steal attempts. Barnes also leads the Gators with a .372 batting average.
But the Green Wave players said they are ready. They are prepared to do what many of them came to Tulane to do.
“We are expecting big things,” Dyer said. “It’s a new season starting (today). We are five wins away from Omaha.”
East Manatee Sports
May 29, 2008
LAKEWOOD RANCH There’s a new feeling at the Out-of-Door Academy. Thunder football players are ready to kick sand on anyone.
http://www.topix.com/ncaa/tulane/2008/05/e…
East Manatee Sports
May 29, 2008
LAKEWOOD RANCH There’s a new feeling at the Out-of-Door Academy. Thunder football players are ready to kick sand on anyone.
http://www.topix.com/ncaa/tulane-football/…
Rivals.com TALLAHASSEE REGIONAL Analysis
May 29, 2008
The favorite: Florida State
After failing to win the Tallahassee Regional last season, Florida State enters the week with extra motivation. That could be bad news for opposing teams. The Seminoles are at home and have one of the nation’s best offenses. They enter the weekend hitting .350 as a team. Catcher Buster Posey is the nation’s best hitter and veteran outfielder Jack Rye has been outstanding since returning to the lineup. While Posey and Rye spearhead the offense, Matt Fairel and Elih Villanueva hope to carry the pitching staff this weekend. If FSU plays the way it has all-season long, it should be in great shape. However, we’d be lying if we said we weren’t a little skeptical about the Seminoles.
The dark-horse contender: Florida
Florida probably is the only team we could see eliminating Florida State from Regional play. The Gators are familiar with the Seminoles, facing them three times during the regular season with a record of 1-2. After putting together a less than impressive performance at the SEC Tourney, the Gators head to Tallahassee with something to prove. Tallahassee native Cole Figueroa must have a big weekend for the Gators, while Avery Barnes, Josh Adams and Brandon McArthur are key components. On the mound, the Gators have a pair of outstanding relievers in Josh Edmondson and Clint Franklin. The Gators haven’t had much success against FSU in Tallahassee, but this would be a good time to change that.
Best hitter: Florida State’s Buster Posey
There are few players that can be mentioned in the same breath as Florida State catcher Buster Posey. The nation’s best player, Posey has had a phenomenal junior campaign both at and behind the plate for the Seminoles. Posey is hitting .467 with 19 homers and 73 RBIs. He is also slugging .864 and has a .567 on-base percentage. Additionally, Posey has recorded 20 doubles and four triples to go with 185 total bases. As a pitcher, Posey has not allowed a run in 7 1/3 innings of work. He has also recorded six saves.
Best pitcher: Tulane’s Shooter Hunt
When Tulane junior right-handed pitcher Shooter Hunt takes the mound, the Green Wave usually gets good results. The veteran - who promises to be a high draft pick in the upcoming MLB Draft – has had a great season on the mound. Hunt enters the week 9-3 with a 2.45 ERA in 91 2/3 innings. He has also struck out 119 and walked 51, while opponents are hitting him at a .156 clip. Tulane likely will start Hunt in the Regional opener against Florida.
The buzz
Florida and Florida State have met three times this season, with the Seminoles holding a 2-1 advantage over the Gators. The Gators won the first meeting 6-1, while the Seminoles won in Jacksonville (10-2) and Tallahassee (4-2) … Chances are Bucknell is going to have a rude awakening in this Regional. The Bison have played just one game against a top-150 RPI team this season. That game was against Towson (108), whom the Bison lost to by a score of 14-5 … One bit of good news for Tulane, Marshall is not in the postseason. In addition to losing two games in the C-USA Tournament to the Thundering Herd, the Green Wave also split a pair of games and tied once in the regular season series. To make this Regional related, the Green Wave is just 5-5 in its last 10 games.
Tulane Athletics Announces 2008 Football Game Times, Television Schedule
May 29, 2008
May 28, 2008
New Orleans - The Tulane football team will kick-off five of its six home games this fall at 2 p.m. with three of those contests broadcast live on local and national television, and the Green Wave’s 2008 homecoming game will once again take place at Tad Gormley Stadium at City Park, TU Director of Athletics Rick Dickson announced today.
The Green Wave will move its home slate back to an afternoon kick-off time for the first time since 2006. Tulane will begin its contests against East Carolina (Sept. 13), Louisiana-Monroe (Sept. 20), Army (Oct. 4), Rice (Oct. 25) and UAB (Nov. 15) at 2 p.m., while the SMU game (Sept. 25) has been moved to a Thursday night nationally televised contest on CBS College Sports and will kick-off at 7 p.m.
Tulane will play three of its first four home games on television. Cox Sports Television (CST) of New Orleans will broadcast the Louisiana-Monroe and Army contests live locally, while the SMU contest will air live on CBS College Sports (Cox Cable of New Orleans Channel 315). The Green Wave’s game at defending national champion LSU on Nov. 1 will air on a tape-delay basis on CST.
TU returns to Tad Gormley Stadium for the first time since 2004. Previously, the Green Wave played three straight (2002-04) homecoming contests at the stadium. TU’s 2005 homecoming game against Southeastern Louisiana was originally scheduled to be played at the outdoor stadium, but Hurricane Katrina forced the two teams to move the game to Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. TU’s last game at Tad Gormley Stadium was a thrilling 59-55 homecoming victory against UAB in 2004.
The stadium affords an opportunity for traditional homecoming activities including a parade and expanded tailgating and has proven to be very popular with the university community and alumni from across the country.
“Certainly some of our more festive and tradition-laden activities have centered around `Homecoming in the Oaks’ in years past,” Dickson said. “We are excited to bring this opportunity back for all of our students and alumni as well as our fans.” Game times for five of Tulane’s six road games have also been set. The Green Wave’s season opener at Alabama has yet to be determined, but TU will face UTEP (Oct. 11) at 8:05 p.m., LSU (Nov. 1) at 7 p.m., Houston (Nov.8) at 4 p.m., Tulsa (Nov. 22) at 2 p.m. and Memphis (Nov. 29) at 1 p.m. All game times are Central Standard Time and are subject to change.
2008 Tulane Green Wave Football Schedule Date Opponents Site Time Sept. 6 at Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. TBA Sept. 13 East Carolina* Louisiana Superdome 2 p.m. Sept. 20 Louisiana-Monroe (CST) Louisiana Superdome 2 p.m. Sept. 25 SMU* (CBS C) Louisiana Superdome 7 p.m. Oct. 4 Army (HC) (CST) Tad Gormley Stadium 2 p.m. (New Orleans, La.) Oct. 11 at UTEP* El Paso, Texas 8:05 p.m. Oct. 25 Rice* Louisiana Superdome 2 p.m. Nov. 1 at LSU Baton Rouge, La. 7 p.m. Nov. 8 at Houston* Houston, Texas 4 p.m. Nov. 15 UAB* Louisiana Superdome 2 p.m. Nov. 22 at Tulsa* Tulsa, Okla. 2 p.m. Nov. 29 at Memphis* Memphis, Tenn. 1 p.m. *Conference USA game CBS C- CBS College Sports CST- Cox Sports Television of New Orleans
ONE SPORT AT A TIME
May 29, 2008
Tulane utility player Anthony Scelfo has flourished this season thanks to his baseball and football coaches’ cooperation
Thursday, May 29, 2008
By Nakia HoganTulane football coach Bob Toledo is one of the biggest reasons the Green Wave baseball team isn’t watching the NCAA regionals from afar this year.Really, he is.
After all, it was Toledo who broached baseball coach Rick Jones with the idea of allowing Anthony Scelfo, last season’s starting quarterback and a budding multi-positional talent on the diamond, to skip spring football practice and concentrate on baseball.
“Last year was (Scelfo’s) first year with us in football,” said Toledo, who is preparing for his second season with the Green Wave. “We wanted him to be involved to learn the system. But he played last year so he didn’t have to be involved with it this year.
“Last year we thought he kind of wore down a little bit at the end of the year, especially in baseball, because of doing both sports in the spring. So I decided to just let him concentrate on baseball with the hopes of having him have a great year and get the chance to be a pro baseball player. We just gave him the time to dedicate all his time and effort to that sport and not have to worry about football.”
That plan has worked to near perfection.
The time away from football this spring has allowed Scelfo, a 5-foot-9, 195-pound junior, to put in extra work on the diamond and fine-tune his game. He has spent added hours in the batting cage, and even more critiquing his game with assistant coach Mark Kingston.
He has increased his batting average from .277 last season to .324 this year and was selected first-team All-Conference USA and leading Tulane into the Tallahassee Regional against Florida on Friday.
Scelfo, who leads the team with 12 home runs and ranks third with 51 RBIs, couldn’t be happier.
“Last year, it was tough,” he said. “It was definitely a drain doing both sports. This year, the difference is the time I spent using toward football, I’ve been using just learning the game of baseball. The coaches have helped me out a bunch with that. That’s been a very big part.
“I know the offense (in football) real well. Iplayed. I got the experience. It was really CoachToledo’s decision. Coach Toledo and Coach Jones are really the two guys that talked about it. I just did whatthey told me to do. That’s what I did. I do what thecoaches tell me to do.”
At the moment, Scelfo is doing everything right.
He’s been superb in the field, often makingacrobatic catches to save runs.
He’s been versatile as well, splitting time this spring between first base, second base, third base, left field, center field and right field.
He’s also been clutch at the plate, as he’s had three games with at least five RBIs.
“He’s been invaluable,” Jones said. “He’s a guy who offensively has come into his own, a clutch hitter. Couple that with the fact that he hasplayed so many different positions, he’s really bailed us out and allowed us to have more flexibility. He’s been a major, major part of this.
“He said to me he had always worked at football and played baseball. This spring he was able to work at baseball.”
As important as Scelfo has been to the Green Wave’s run to the regional, he hasn’t totally left behind his football roots and fiery attitude.
With the Green Wave offense stagnant in last week’s C-USA Tournament, it was Scelfo who lifted the team out of its doldrums with a three-run home run against Marshall. After the blast, Scelfo met his awaiting teammates at home plate with intense chest pumps and slammed his batting helmet to the ground in one of those “let’s get going” kind of ways.
“Absolutely (Scelfo has brought a football mentality) to baseball,” Tulane captain Grayden Griener said. “But in a positive way, not in a negative way.
He’s definitely a guy who plays with a lot of emotion, and he’s the guy who gets us going. He’s the fire. He’s the igniter, and we follow. Having that kind of
mentality from football really helps in baseball.” Scelfo’s recent exploits in baseball could put him in an uphill climb to regain his starting position under
center on the football team.That’s a worry for another day, though, because he possibly has played himself into being selected in next week’s MLB amateur draft.
“Obviously, he missed some reps, and that may affect him football-wise,” Toledo said. “But he can help them in baseball.”
Toledo will get no arguments from a thankful Jones.
“That wasn’t my decision, that was Bob’s,” Jones said. “And that’s just an
example of how well Bob works with everybody. He felt like this was the best thing for him to do. Certainly, this is (Scelfo’s) professional future.“Again, that was Bob’s decision. And we were really fortunate that he made that one, because last year during spring ball, he struggled for us. But Bob needed to see him then. He was a first-year coach then and needed to see him. This year wasn’t as critical. Bob really helped us.”
Tulane homecoming game to be at Gormley
May 29, 2008
Tulane homecoming game to be at Gormley - Tulane Beat - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com
Posted by dtatum May 28, 2008 5:35PM
Categories: FootballAccording to a release from the school, Tulane will play its football homecoming game this year at Tad Gormley Stadium. Tulane also announced that the football team will kick off five of its six home games this fall at 2 p.m.
The Green Wave will move its home slate back to an afternoon kick-off time for the first time since 2006. Tulane will begin its contests against East Carolina (Sept. 13), Louisiana-Monroe (Sept. 20), Army (Oct. 4), Rice (Oct. 25) and UAB (Nov. 15) at 2 p.m., while the SMU game (Sept. 25) has been moved to a Thursday night nationally televised contest on CBS College Sports and will kick-off at 7 p.m.
Tulane will play three of its first four home games on television. Cox Sports Television (CST) will broadcast the Louisiana-Monroe and Army contests live locally, while the SMU contest will air live on CBS College Sports (Cox Cable of New Orleans Channel 315). The Green Wave’s game at defending national champion LSU on Nov. 1 will air on a tape-delay basis on CST.
TU returns to Tad Gormley Stadium for the first time since 2004.
Benson: I’m ‘faster, stronger’
May 27, 2008
Benson: I’m ‘faster, stronger’ : Cedric Benson was back in Bears camp Wednesday working out with the first string weeks after he was arrested in Texas.
http://www.topix.com/ncaa/tulane/2008/05/b…
Fletcher next rising star RB out of C-USA
May 27, 2008
Even though he’s a year or two away from beginning his pro career, Southern Miss running back Damion Fletcher admits he paid close attention to this year’s NFL Draft.